There’s an extra USB 3.0 port as well, delivering two in total, while another two USB 2.0 ports round out the external storage options. But where this thing really differs is in the inclusion of a HDMI output. Combine this with a mouse and keyboard, and it’s possible to run this box offline as a PC, running Windows, Linux, Unix and Android-based VMs. There’s even a remote control included so you can hook this directly up to your TV and use it as a streaming media PC.
As expected, there’s no PLEX support (according to Synology, PLEX doesn’t work on any NAS, which seems rather strange to us). However, the powerful hardware within makes transcoding super smooth, even more so than the Synology. Like the Synology, transcoding can be done either in real-time or offline, allowing you to ready your movie collection for remote streaming whenever you’re about to leave the house.
The other huge difference here is the inclusion of twin Gigabit Ethernet ports, which effectively doubles the maximum read and write speed when multiple devices are accessing the NAS, whereas the Synology unit only has one. We measured a whopping 221MB/sec read speed on the TS-251+ while using twin Western Digital 4TB Red WD40EFRX drives in RAID 1 mode, more than double that of the Synology. This makes it especially suitable for larger environments where many more devices will be accessing the NAS. Having said that, we think this is probably overkill for the average home, unless that home happens to be four housemates all working in IT.
So in terms of hardware and performance, the TS-251+ obviously has the advantage. We’re still not quite as impressed in the interface – even though it appears to basically mirror Synology’s, it’s not quite as polished. However, when it comes to sheer performance and extra hardware features, the QNAP leads by a long way.